Welcome Stranger (1947)

A crotchety old physician (Barry Fitzgerald) in a small Massachusetts town decides to take his first vacation in decades. He requests a substitute doctor but he clashes immediately with his replacement (Bing Crosby) as they both rub each other the wrong way. Directed by Elliott Nugent (THE CAT AND THE CANARY), this folksy comedy has two strikes against it going in for me. I'm not a fan of Crosby and Fitzgerald's pixie-ish appeal escapes me. But GOING MY WAY was an Oscar winning big hit and their reunion here resulted in one of the highest grossing movies of 1947. The sentiment is high and one's tolerance for this sort of thing depends on your affection of its two leading men. I couldn't decide who was more irritating, Crosby or Fitzgerald, though to be fair they are supposed to be irritating to each other but it's the actors, not the characters that were annoying me. Fortunately, Crosby keeps the singing down to a minimum and there's the appealing Joan Caulfield to provide some pulchritude. Thankfully not as horrid as GOING MY WAY! With Wanda Hendrix, Robert Shayne, Frank Faylen and Elizabeth Patterson.